(Philadelphia, PA) – Steven L. Galetta, MD,
Director of the Division of Neuro-ophthalmology, Director of Neurological
Training, and the Van Meter Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology at
the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has
been recognized by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
for his efforts to provide the nation’s next generation of doctors
with an outstanding educational experience. Established by and presented
in collaboration with the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) medical honor society,
the Robert J. Glaser AOA Distinguished Teacher Awards are based on a national
competition conducted annually through the offices of the deans of U.S.
and Canadian medical schools and are designed to recognize distinction
in medical student teaching. The awards were presented on November 6th
at a special ceremony during the Annual Meeting of the AAMC.

“He’s a dynamic teacher…unbelievably amazing…simply
awesome,” enthuses Beau Ances, MD, PhD, Senior
Resident in Neurology. “I met him my first day of medical school,
and he’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed at Penn and went into
neurology. In my residency program, everyone loves him.” In fact,
after Galetta became director of the residency program in 1997, the number
of UPenn medical students who chose to pursue neurology residencies increased
by 47 percent, and many of those students chose to stay on at UPenn in
order to continue their training under his direction. His students and
trainees have served as the primary authors on more than half of his published
research papers.

Galetta graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and received
his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1983. He
completed his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
and followed it with a one-year fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology at the
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami. He then returned
to the UPenn School of Medicine as a faculty member and currently serves
as director of the division of neuro-ophthalmology.

“Having great students is really key,” says Galetta, whose
clinical specialties are multiple sclerosis (MS) and optic neuritis. “I
love the teamwork of teaching: it’s not done in a vacuum, so I really
feel I share these awards with all the students, fellows, and attendings
I have crossed paths with at Penn. I’ve also had the good fortune
of being around a number of terrific teachers and I have tried to extract
the best from each of them. So this award also honors them as well.”

Alpha Omega Alpha is the only national honor medical society in the world
and was founded in 1902 to recognize and perpetuate excellence in the
medical profession. The society sponsors several different programs, such
as the Alpha Omega Alpha Visiting Professorships, the Leaders in American
Medicine videotape series, and the society's quarterly journal, The Pharos.
In addition, the society sponsors annual competitions for medical students
and also endeavors to support the work of local chapters through the Chapter
of the Year Award.

The Association of American Medical Colleges is a nonprofit association
representing all 125 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical
schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including
68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and
scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the
AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and
104,000 resident physicians.

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PENN Medicine is a $2.7 billion enterprise dedicated
to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and
high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation’s
first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System
(created in 1993 as the nation’s first integrated academic health
system).

Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #3 in the nation for receipt
of NIH research funds; and ranked #4 in the nation in U.S. News &
World Report’s most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical
schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School
of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training
of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic
medicine.

Penn Health System is comprised of: its flagship hospital, the Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently rated one of the nation’s
“Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Pennsylvania
Hospital, the nation's first hospital; Presbyterian Medical Center; a
faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty
satellite facilities; and home health care and hospice.